An elephant was born in Beekse Bergen safari park last weekend. It is the first calf of African elephant Pina-Nessi. She was given the name Mosi.
The elephant was born under the watchful eyes of the group’s other female elephants. Mother and daughter are fine.
The name Mosi means ‘firstborn’. “The birth couldn’t have gone better, it was exactly as we had hoped,” says head of animal care Yvonne Vogels. “Not only the calf and Pina-Nessi are doing very well, the other elephants in the group are also behaving in an exemplary manner. Now we are going to work hard to ensure that the little one grows up as best as possible.”
“It didn’t happen without a fight.”
Yvonne is very happy with the birth of Mosi. “We have been working very hard for 25 years to make a fruitful contribution to the European breeding program of this beautiful animal species. It has not gone without a hitch in those years, so as a team we are completely over the moon that things have gone well! “
There are still two pregnant African elephants in the safari park, Beekse Bergen announced in a festive manner earlier this year. Pina-Nessi’s sister Bongi is expecting a calf in early 2024. The calf of Punda, the mother of Pina-Nessi and Bongi, is expected not much later.
“Pina-Nessi was extremely impressed by this Spanish Casanova.”
In the wild, the African elephant faces many threats. They are threatened by farmers, who are fed up with the crops that the elephants often destroy, and the animals are also killed for their valuable ivory.
The breeding program must ensure that a healthy reserve population of this animal species is created. Elephant bull Yambo came to Hilvarenbeek from Spain in 2021, and with success. “Pina-Nessi was extremely impressed by this Spanish Casanova and the first mating soon took place.”
An elephant was born once before in Beekse Bergen. About 7.5 years ago, Punda gave birth to daughter Madiba, just under a year after her arrival at the safari park. Madiba’s birth was completely special: she was the first African elephant to be born in the Benelux. From the moment she walked outside, Madiba attracted a huge number of visitors to the park. Read here how everyone wanted to see the then small elephant.
To allow mother Pina-Ness and Mosi to recover in peace, they will be seen to a limited extent in the coming days. The public can visit the stable from Thursday.
